Google announced changes to its advertising services on Friday. It is thus trying to avoid the risk of a forced breakup after the European Commission fined it 2.95 billion euros in September for favoring its own services.
Google announced changes to its advertising services on Friday to avoid the risk of falling apart due to a huge fine from the European Commission (EC). In September, the European Commission fined Google 2.95 billion euros for prioritizing its own services and gave it 60 days to resolve the issues. TASR informs about it according to the AFP agency.
- Google adjusts ads due to threat of fine from European Commission.
- The European Commission fined Google 2.95 billion euros.
- Google disagrees with the fine and plans to appeal.
- Product changes include setting prices in Ad Manager.
- Google faces litigation in both Europe and the United States.
Google wants to appeal against the fine
“Our proposal fully addresses the decision without the disruptive disintegration that would harm the thousands of European publishers and advertisers who use Google’s tools to grow their businesses,” a company spokesperson said.
Despite the fact that Google agreed to changes in the field of advertising technology, it does not agree with the decision of the EU and wants to appeal against the fine. The fine also angered US President Donald Trump, who threatened new tariffs for the EU if confirmed.
Google’s plan includes product changes
The Internet giant sells advertising not only on its websites and applications, but also acts as an intermediary for companies that want to place advertising elsewhere. According to Brussels, this made the position of its competitors more difficult.
Google said Friday that its latest plan includes immediate product changes, such as giving publishers the ability to set different minimum bids for different bidders when using Google Ad Manager.
Brussels will now assess the proposal, which according to AFP comes at a time when it is balancing between a determination to enforce its technology rules and a caution not to provoke Trump.
Google is also having problems in the United States
On Thursday, the European Commission launched a new investigation into the US company under digital competition rules on suspicions that it is unfairly pushing some news outlets down in the search rankings.
Google is also having problems in the United States. A US federal court ruled against her earlier this year in connection with ad technology practices. Google is seeking to avoid a forced sale in the Virginia case, and closing arguments are expected on Monday. The court is expected to rule in the coming weeks or months.
